Britain isn’t a free country
I’m old enough to remember when ‘it’s a free country’ was a phrase people used in conversation. It feels like…
The Tories aren’t being honest about foreign marriages
Western liberalism was built on the principle of marrying out. Our beliefs about the freedom of the individual ultimately stem from…
Can post-liberalism save the Conservative party?
‘We – conservatives of left and right, all those who believe in the old way – need to win this…
What Horrible Histories gets wrong about history
I love the BBC’s Horrible Histories; in fact, I’m on record as saying it’s among the best things about being a…
National service is a bad idea that won’t go away
My father did National Service and was lucky enough to end up in Trieste, which was probably the best posting…
Blame the breed, not the owner: the truth about American Bully XLs
My dog is great with children, I will give her that. The family pet and I don’t really get on,…
The rise of the French Intifada
Seven years ago on Friday, a 31-year-old man got behind the wheel of a 19-tonne lorry and purposefully drove it…
The long defeat of the French language
After Brexit, it was all going to be so different for Europe. Following years of growing dominance by the English-speaking…
The Windrush myth
Seventy-five years ago today perhaps the most famous ship in British history arrived at this island. A new nation was…
Where is the moral outrage about Britain’s grooming gangs?
Tabloid journalism begins with W.T. Stead, who as editor of the Pall Mall Gazette in the 1880s brought news and scandal to…
What the experts got wrong about migration
On New Year’s Day, 2014, during those sunny, innocent times of Cameron, Clegg and Miliband, Labour MP Keith Vaz headed down to…
Why the Tories are more diverse than Labour
‘The candidates fighting to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative party leader and Britain’s prime minister reflect the country’s rich diversity,’…
What is the point of Boris Johnson?
However badly Boris Johnson’s career ends, it will surely be a better finale than that of his great-grandfather, the Turkish…
Why the Vikings are winning the culture war
The young woman’s screams were drowned out by the sound of drums. No older than her teens, she had been…
The mind virus killing academia
We lost a giant last month with E.O. Wilson’s passing. A man who stood on Darwin’s shoulders, Wilson had that…
What really matters in the Covid culture wars?
During the grimmest days of the First Crusade in 1098, the western Christians found themselves besieged by the Turks in…
To say this is a ‘once in a generation’ exhibition seems absurdly modest
‘The barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea drives us to the barbarians; between these two means of death…
Why marriage is increasingly for the royals – and the rich
Whatever their views about the monarchy, most people will warm to the news of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement.…
Game of Thrones tells the story of Britain better than most histories
A young pretender raises an army to take the throne. Having recently learnt of his father’s beheading, the adolescent —…
